


Please stay

by Rangergirl3



Series: GenTron Week 2019 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Platonic Relationships, hand-holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-23 18:38:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20894294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Sometimes, you just don't want to be alone.





	Please stay

_Nightmares sucked._

No matter how old you got, or how strong you were, that one thing always, always remained the same.

A nightmare could still leave him shivering, nauseous, and, in Keith's current state, huddled on the floor in the farthest corner of his room, sweating as if he'd just finished a full five rounds with the Gladiator training bot on its highest setting.

He can't remember how he got from the bed to the floor.

_Maybe he fell?_

Images flash before his eyes, and he almost throws up, right then and there.

_He had tried to get to the door, but...then he remembered how big and cavernous the hallways were. Better to stay here, in the dark, with his back against a wall, and let the panic fade **before** he leaves the room._

If he leaves his room now, the others might see, and then...

No.

He can't do it.

He can't bring himself to explain.

The past is past, over and done, gone, _forever_.

He _needs_ it to stay that way.

Eventually, he makes his way to the kitchen. To his somewhat bleary surprise, he finds Pidge is already there. She's sitting at the table, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, and she's reading something that looks like a book, only it has really strange Altean markings on its cover. There's a mug of tea at her elbow, and one of Hunk's cinnamon rolls is half-eaten on a plate in front of her.

She looks up when he enters the room.

He almost wishes she hadn't.

He'd been about to turn around and go back to his room, but now...

He doesn't want her to think he's trying to avoid her.

* * *

Pidge glances up from her book and sees Keith standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Damn, Keith, you look like you just got hit by a train. What happened?"

He shrugs, walking over towards the unit that's most like a refrigerator.

"Nightmare."

She grunts sympathetically.

"Bad one?" she asks.

The top of his head and back of his next don't really express much, but Pidge is fairly certain she sees tension in his shoulders before he closes the door of the unit. It's a moment before he answers.

"...yeah..."

Pidge tilts her head to one side, reaches out, and pats the seat next to her a couple of times.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Keith hesitates, then shakes his head.

"Its - it's nothi-"

She interrupts him by taking another swig of tea and widening her eyes comically at him as she does it. Her meaning is clear.

_It's **not** nothing._

He sighs, leaning against the unit and crossing his arms.

"It was...bad. Just..."

Pidge puts her mug of tea back down on the table, but doesn't let go of it yet. It gives her hands something to do, somewhere to be, so that she can concentrate on what Keith is telling her. Her friend isn't looking directly at her, but at the corner of the table that's nearest to the far wall.

"- I, uh, told you Shiro was there for me when...when no one else was, right?"

She nods. "Yep. Yep you did."

His fingers tighten on the sleeves of his shirt. 

" 'kay - uh - well - some of the...the stuff that I lived through...was...was...uh, pretty bad."

Pidge nods again, but remains silent. Her fingers tighten on her mug.

"-so, the nightmares - it just - it - it felt like...I'd never...left."

Pidge nods, swallows, and only then realizes that she is in danger of clutching her mug so hard that it will soon reach its breaking point. She allows her fingers to relax, and she puts her hands into her lap.

"...and...and I can't...I can't do it again, Pidge, I...just... I _can't_..."

She looks over at him then, and when she sees how wane and pale his face is, she slides her chair backwards and has wrapped him in a hug before either of them realize it's happened.

* * *

"You don't have to, Keith, okay? You never have to go back." 

For a moment, Keith doesn't answer. Then, in a somewhat muffled voice, since she comes up to his chest and his face is half-buried in her hair, she hears him say,

"...thanks, Pidge."

She wants to hug him tighter, but something tells her that he might need some space, so she lets go, but keeps hold of his hand.

"You...want some tea?"

He shrugs again, but he doesn't let go of her hand.

"Yeah, sure."

She proceeds to prepare the tea, but one-handed.

She's not going to let go of him any time soon. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr, come say hi! :D


End file.
